Kristen Bell Reveals How She Became the First SAG Awards Host

A history-making opportunity came calling for Kristen Bell—quite literally.

The actress is slated to take the stage Sunday night as the first-ever SAG Awards host in the ceremony’s 23-year history. So, how did the special gig come about? Well, a phone call to start.

“They just called and said, ‘Would you want to?’ and at first I was nervous to say yes, but that very quickly morphed into flattery, which I’m susceptible to, so I just said, ‘Yes, absolutely’ and it seems very poignant that it was also to be a woman,” she told E!’s Sibley Scoles.

Given the national reckoning currently taking place over sexual misconduct and abuses of power in Hollywood and other industries, Bell will balance the celebration with visual symbols of solidarity.

“Nobody needs to be beaten over the head with any sort of messaging because the visual will speak for itself,” she explained. “This will be a lot of beautiful, powerful, encouraging, supportive women.”

As the first emcee of the main event, Bell wants everyone to also expect fun and joy. “Fun and joy can kind of be an infection and I plan on infecting the audience with it tomorrow night,” she said ahead of the show. “Don’t come if you’re allergic to laughing.”

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As has been previously announced, all of the award categories will be presented by women. Unlike the 2018 Golden Globes, where most women wore black ensembles in support of the Time’s Up movement, Bell said there will be no coordinated color. However, the star will indeed be sporting noir.

“I will be wearing all black during the show, which uniquely just sort of worked out that way, so that was maybe the universe’s messaging to me to stand with the solidarity and wear all black,” the Good Place actress said. Nevertheless, expect a colorful sea of style.

As Bell noted, “Everyone is going to be individually expressing themselves.”